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LeBron James and Manny Machado have since followed in their cleat marks this summer.

But this rebirth of Los Angeles as the Sports Entertainment Capital of the World? It’s a trend that has been set by the Los Angeles Rams.

First, the franchise finally restored Los Angeles as an NFL market in 2016. A year later, it attracted its wunderkind head coach.

Then came a five-week stretch of 2018, which, for Rams fans, must have felt like a fantastically far-fetched stroll down the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

With each step of the offseason, the team added a bright new star to its roster, which was already dazzling with the reigning NFL Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year.

“The good part was there was zero complacency after what we thought was a good season,” special teams coach John Fassel said. “It was almost like the ante was upped just a little bit more … because of some new bodies and a feeling of hope that we can be pretty darned good. We just have to prove it.”

Eleven days apart in late February and early March, the Rams acquired a pair of elite cornerbacks, Marcus Peters and Aqib Talib, for the low, low price of three mid-round draft picks.

Just over a week after that, the Rams traded a first-round pick to the Patriots for receiver Brandin Cooks, a 24-year-old speedster who already has three 1,000-yard seasons on his resume.

Phillips again took to Twitter to celebrate “what’s Cookin’ with the Rams.”

The answer, of course, is a Super Bowl favorite.

Depending on the oddsmaker, the Rams enter training camp, which starts Thursday in Irvine, as either the third or fourth favorite to lift the Lombardi Trophy, primarily behind last season’s finalists, Philadelphia and New England.

The hype is real. Analysts Nate Burleson and Shaun O’Hara recently agreed during an NFL Network segment that the Rams are the most likely team to go 16-0 this season.

The worry is the in-season results won’t match the offseason hype, like the 2011 Philadelphia “Dream Team” or so many Washington teams under Dan Snyder’s ownership.

Receiver Brandin Cooks was the biggest offseason addition to the Rams offense, which was one of the best in the NFL last season.(Photo: The Associated Press)

“It won’t change the approach at it,” Goff said. “You see every year there’s teams that get that type of label and they often fall short and you wonder why. It’s something that we can’t really focus on.

“Every year there’s teams with talent. We have talent. But what are we going to do to separate ourselves from other teams?"

As camp approached, the Rams tied down Cooks and running back Todd Gurley to long-term extensions, but defensive tackle Aaron Donald remained unsigned long term.

The Defensive Player of the Year sat out last year’s training camp and reportedly didn't not report on time to this year's camp Wednesday.

“It’s something you can’t do anything about,” Phillips said. “It’s the business part of it. We feel like it’ll happen sooner than later, hopefully sooner. He didn’t come until later last year and he did OK.”

General manager Les Snead may have won the offseason, but it’s now up to head coach Sean McVay and the coaching staff to turn those off-the-field decisions into on-field success.

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Todd Gurley, left, and Jared Goff will lead a Rams offense that figures to be one of the best in the NFC and maybe in the NFL.(Photo: CHUCK KIRMAN/THE STAR)

“I think there’s a confidence that this group has that you feel good about,” McVay said. “But I think there’s also got to be a humility and an understanding that we’ve got to earn it every single day.”

Under their first-year head coach, the Rams enjoyed an astonishing turnaround in 2017, not only ending the franchise’s 13-year run without a winning season, but grabbing its first NFC West title since 2003.

Pro Bowl offensive tackle Andrew Whitworth, signed from Cincinnati before the season, could feel the turnaround in training camp.

“You really felt a specialness in the way that guys worked, the way that guys kind of just rallied together,” Whitworth said. “You could tell that this team had been through some stuff where they wanted to turn the page, move forward and really felt confident in Coach McVay’s message. ... You could feel that energy.”

Goff went from rookie bust to sophomore breakout, improving his passing rating by nearly 40 points, as the Rams became the first team in the Super Bowl era to go from worst to first in scoring.

Tackle Andrew Whitworth is one of the returners to a steady offensive line for the Rams.(Photo: Jim Brown-USA TODAY Sports)

For their efforts, the Rams dominated the NFL honors awards gala. McVay, Gurley and Donald were voted Coach, Offensive Player and Defensive Player of the Year, respectively.

But the real honors eluded the Rams, who were beaten 26-13 by the visiting Falcons before an expectant Coliseum crowd in the NFC wild-card round.

Making their first postseason appearance in 12 years, Rams fell in a flurry of drops, missed tackles and special teams turnovers.

“It’s a very competitive league,” McVay said. “There’s 31 other great teams in this league that are striving to do the same things we are.

“We know that we feel confident in the personnel that we have here. But we also know that you’ve got to wipe the slate clean every year. Some of the success that we had last year won’t win us any games this year and I think our players respect and understand that.”

There is a worry that the front office has added a few potentially combustible players to the locker room.

Peters threw an official’s flag into the stands and walked off the field last December in New Jersey. Suh has a long disciplinary history, although that was mostly early in his career. Talib’s history of snatching the gold chain off receiver Michael Crabtree will be tested early in training camp, when the Rams practice and play against Baltimore.

“These guys, they have great personalities and they’ve also got a swagger, a confidence about themselves and they love football,” McVay said. “That’s the biggest thing for us, we want guys that love football.”

For all the offseason newsmaking, the high-powered offensive and special teams units return nearly intact.

The offense returns 10 of 11 starters, including Gurley, who led the NFL in yards from scrimmage (2,093) and touchdowns (19). Cooks, an able replacement for Sammy Watkins, is the only new face.

Gurley’s presence allowed the teams to lead the NFL in passing yards off play action with 1,446, according to Pro Football Focus.

Cooks joins Robert Woods and Cooper Kupp to improve a receiving corps that led the NFL in yards after catch (6.64 yards per reception) last year. If young tight ends like Tyler Higbee and Gerald Everett can begin contributing on a consistent basis, McVay’s offense can take the next step forward.

Receiver Cooper Kupp is back for his second season with the Rams after an impressive rookie campaign.(Photo: George Walker IV / Tennessean.com)

The entire starting offensive line returns together, which provides a significant headstart to the season.

“You’re just so far ahead of what you might have been doing together the last year,” Whitworth said. “Now it almost comes together seamlessly and you can really start to fine tune.

“You go from just working on how to double team together … to how can I make this exact? Not only can we execute the double team, but know exactly what each other are thinking and wanting to do with each play. You’re able to execute at a much higher level.”

The only real movement offensively has been on the coaching staff, where Shane Waldron and Aaron Kromer were promoted to passing and running game coordinators to replace offensive coordinator Matt LaFleur, who will now call plays in Tennessee.

Of course, McVay will continue to call the Rams’ plays.

“I think the dynamic will be very similar to what it was last year,” Waldron said.

The Pro Bowl special teams corps of punter Johnny Hekker, long snapper Jake McQuaide and kickoff returner Pharoh Cooper return as a unit. Placekicker Greg Zuerlein, who led the NFL in scoring despite missing the last two games of the season, is on track to recover from the back surgery that shortened his season a year ago.

The biggest variable entering the season has to be the star-laden defense, the upside of which has been compared to the “No Fly Zone” defense that lifted Denver to a title in 2015.

Donald, Suh and Michael Brockers could keep opposing coordinators awake wondering how to block the Rams’ dynamic front three. A deep secondary headlined by Peters, Talib and free safety Lamarcus Joyner could leave opposing quarterbacks wondering where to go with the ball.

“I would say we’re in pretty good shape on paper,” Suh said, “but we have a lot of things to prove.”

But the team had to sacrifice somewhere for its offseason spree. That came at linebacker, where the Rams jettisoned three starters to free salary cap space. Leaders Alec Ogletree and Robert Quinn were traded to the Giants and Dolphins, respectively, and free agent Connor Barwin was not resigned.

The gamble is second-year players Cory Littleton and Samson Ebukam can steady a unit that only returns inside linebacker Mark Barron, who missed the entire offseason program rehabbing an injury.

“I think training camp is going to show which ones step up,” Phillips said. “We’ve got some good-looking players. … We’ll see if any of those young guys can do that.”

Matt Longacre, perhaps the teams’ best performer at outside linebacker last season, is also recovering from offseason back surgery.

The biggest year-over-year change for the Rams has to be the level of expectations. A year ago, they were a 4-12 team that took a chance on the youngest head coach in modern NFL history. Now, they’re a paper tiger expected to roar in reality.

“Now you’re going to be a benchmark for every team,” Whitworth said. “It’s a much different attitude. … It’s a different target that teams put on you.”

But the defending NFC West champions are ready to take a swing at something bigger after an aggressive offseason.

“It’s refreshing to see,” Whitworth said. “Throughout the league, I think you see teams (on which) players really get frustrated in the sense of just, ‘Hey, we’ll just keep existing and hope we’ll get better.’ ”

After betting on themselves, they’re ready to let the chips fall where they may.

“It puts an excitement and a pressure on this team to go, ‘Hey, let’s go out and perform the best way possible because our organization is in the same boat,’ ” Whitworth said. “They want to see how special we can be, too.”